As Florida Panthers general manager Jacques Martin watched his team at the morning skate yesterday, he continually chewed on his nails, letting up only to chat with assistant GM Randy Sexton.

Perhaps it's just an old habit, or maybe Martin feels as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Because, in a sense, he does.

Martin's franchise player, 25-year-old defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and has suggested that he would enjoy playing for a team that has a chance of winning long-term. In his three seasons in south Florida, Bouwmeester hasn't had a sniff of the post-season, which means there's a good chance the Edmonton native will jump ship this summer -- even if the borderline Panthers do manage to squeak into the playoffs this year.

Under normal circumstances, the prudent thing for someone in Martin's position to do would be to entertain any and all offers for Bouwmeester and deal him for the highest return.

But these aren't normal circumstances in south Florida.

It's crucial for the Panthers to qualify for the playoffs. The fan base is minuscule to start with and not qualifying for the post-season for the eighth straight year would turn away many of the diehards that remain, resulting in even more of a financial meltdown for Panthers owner Alan Cohen. Trading Bouwmeester, particularly for prospects or draft picks, almost certainly would kill any chance the Panthers have of making the playoffs and perhaps would signal to the fans that they've thrown the in the towel this season.

In Toronto, you can do that. In fact, Leafs fans wait with bated breath for GM Brian Burke to start shipping out the club's veterans for prospects and/or draft picks.

But Martin can't simply look toward the future. There's no guarantee -- especially if this team misses the playoffs again -- that there is a future for NHL hockey in south Florida. And so, Jittery Jacques has to weigh many more options than just whether or not trading the franchise player is the right thing to do from an on-ice perspective.

On the other hand, if Martin holds on to Bouwmeester and the 25-year-old signs with someone else this summer, and Florida gets nothing in return, Martin could be waving bye-bye to Florida, even if the Panthers do sneak into the playoffs.

It's a wonder that Martin wasn't doing more than just chewing his nails.

For his part, the notoriously tight-lipped Bouwmeester isn't playing his hand. At a post-skate media scrum yesterday, the Edmonton native acknowledged that, yes, the 23-18-8 Panthers seem to be heading in the right direction. And, yes, talks are on-going between the team and his agent.

But other than that, the stud D-man doesn't seem to be leaning one way or another in terms of whether he plans to test the free agent market this summer or try to re-sign with the Panthers. The talk is he'll command $6-$7.5 million US a season in a new deal.

"There's lots of things you have to consider," Bouwmeester said. "There's not one thing that's going to change your mind. You consider everything and take it all in."

Florida head coach Peter DeBoer said that while Bouwmeester's looming free agent status is big news in hockey-mad markets like Toronto (the Leafs likely will go hard after Bouwmeester this summer), it has not been a distraction to his team. But it's obvious where his heart lies in terms of where he would like to see the young defenceman.

"I think he's one of the top three defencemen in the world. I've only been around the league for 50 games and through the loop once, but there's not another defenceman I've seen that I would trade for him," the rookie NHL coach said. "But my job is to coach the players. Am I going to be able to talk Jay into staying? No. I've taken the approach since Day 1 that we'll try to let our actions speak for us -- try to get the program on the right track, try to show him that, long-term, he's in the place he wants to be in."

"The only time you have to deal with this stuff is here and in Montreal, otherwise it's, whatever," Boumeester said. "It's not life or death,"